CSI: Citadel Security Investigation
by Sprocker
Summary: Follow Jason Sinclair and his turian partner as they deal with disturbing crimes on this seemingly peaceful station, testing both their limits as the Citadel they know changes with every case.
1. Prologue

**Prologue - Rising Up**

**December 25, 2180**

**Brooklyn, New York**

"Christmas morning and I'm stuck on patrol with the craziest cop in the galaxy."

Sergeant Eric Sanders bitterly finished his second cup of cheap coffee of the day as he patrolled the white streets of Brooklyn with his partner, Sergeant Jason Sinclair, the only officer in the entire force to volunteer for Christmas duty. Eric's screw-up in a robbery case a few weeks ago when he let the perp escape custody under his watch destined him for this duty.

For Jason, however, there was no question about it. Ever since his entrance into the force one year ago, Jason had already garnered a stack of citations for his various heroic actions in deterring crime, from chasing down simple thieves to catching armed and dangerous criminals. His dedication stemmed from the sense of duty his father, a single parent and an Alliance N2 soldier had instilled into him, right until the day he was gunned down by a fleeing druggie. Jason's exemplary actions couldn't come at a more perfect time, as Ambassador Donnel Udina was looking for the newest batch of human Citadel Security officers.

"Crappy coffee," said Eric as he checked the cup. "No wonder, stupid Earth-grown beans. Can't believe that 7-11 didn't sell coffee with beans from Benning."

"Tastes the same to me," said Jason, his eyes constantly inspecting their surroundings. "Besides, what do you expect from 7-11? Still selling crap after a couple hundred years, just all over the galaxy now."

Eric tossed the cup to the side of the road, only to have Jason pick it up and dispose of it in a bin.

"The Chief ain't here Sinclair, no need to put up an act. I'm not the one that gets you promoted.

"It's called morals, Eric. Underneath those layers of burrito-built fat of yours, you'll find some. Now, keep your eyes peeled, there've been several robberies around this area in the past couple of weeks."

Brooklyn was never a safe place, but the area the two men were patrolling were especially dangerous. This was evident from the empty streets on Christmas morning, where children should be out having the time of their lives. Instead, every parent was keeping their child inside, afraid that their child would be on the receiving end of the infamous violence of the area.

"Relax, will you," said Eric, shrugging of the warnings. "Even criminals take a break on Christmas. Besides, what's there to rob? All the shops are closed for the holidays anyway."

Just as he finished his sentence, both men's omni-tool radios activated, breaking the silence of the unnaturally quiet neighborhood.

"All units be advised, we have a 211 in progress on the corner of Surf and 14th, suspects are armed, shots fired. Units to handle, please identify."

"That's a convenience store just down the street," said Jason as he raced away. "Guess those guys didn't get the holiday memo, eh?"

Eric sighed as he chased after his eager partner, speaking into his omni-tool, "Base, this is 11 Bravo responding to the 211 at Surf and 14th."

Arriving at the store, both men took cover next to the entrance. Just as they drew their standard-issue M-3 Predators, the entrance door blew open from a shotgun blast.

"Fuck! Shotguns? We're in way over our heads Jason, we need SWAT!" screamed Eric over the firefight in the store.

Jason nodded, "Call them in and try to get people away. I'm going in."

Happy to avoid getting shot at, Eric retreated further away from the store as Jason cocked his pistol, peeking into the store. Inside, two men were taking cover behind the counter, while three more were around the store, firing at the two behind the counter. Knowing that none of them would surrender, Jason fired at the two men closest to the door, bringing them to the ground. Surprised, the third man in front of the counter turned to look at Jason, only to be blasted away by the powerful blast from a M-27 Scimitar. Reacting quickly, Jason shot one of the men behind the counter in the head before pointing his gun at the last surviving man.

"Wait, wait!" shouted the bearded Hispanic man as he dropped his gun. "Don't shoot, I'm your only way in!"

"In to what?" asked Jason as he approached the man, kicking his pistol aside.

"The lab, isn't that why you're here?"

Eric entered the store, confident that the shooting had stopped, "SWAT is on the way, but I see you've handled things pretty well."

"We don't need SWAT, but I think we should call Captain Phillips of Narcotics down here instead, right, Juan?"

As more officers arrived, the man brought them into the hidden cocaine lab behind the store, one which the Narcotics team had been trying for ages to find. Jason did that in one morning, bringing down a few members of the gang in charge as well. This was to be his last act of heroism in the force, as that afternoon, he was called into the Chief's office.

Inside the office sat the Chief and another well-dressed man, whom Jason recognized as Ambassador Udina.

"It's not every Christmas I get a call that one of my boys gets into a firefight with five drug dealers, takes them all out and discovers a snow lab," said Chief Adams, smiling as he stood up to shake Jason's hand. "Well done, boy. As much as New York wants to keep you, I'm afraid Ambassador Udina requires your presence somewhere much, much further away."

Udina shook Jason's hand firmly, gazing into his eyes as he did so, "The Citadel is like nowhere on Earth. Your actions there represent the entire humanity, not just one police force. Do you think you're ready for it, Sergeant Sinclair?"

Knowing his father would never want him to give up such an opportunity, Jason immediately knew his answer.

"Without a doubt, sir. I was born for C-Sec."

The stern-faced Udina smiled slightly, "Then pack your bags, son. You're leaving Sol tomorrow night."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - New Mysteries**

**March 8, 2185**

**Tayseri Ward, Citadel**

Jason had thought a life in C-Sec would be easy, with less violent crimes to deal with than on Earth. True, there were less gang violence, shootouts and armed robberies, but the heaps and heaps of paperwork for every thing drove him insane. His first year in Enforcement put him in the Presidium with an experienced salarian. It was a giant drop in action from that in Brooklyn, with his most serious case involving him chasing after a thief who stole a necklace from an

asari diplomat.

His next two years, however, were vastly different from his first and similar to his experience on Earth. Assigned to Zakera Ward under Captain Armando Bailey, Jason became involved in more familiar things as he got into the so-called 'underworld' of the Citadel. However, this was nothing compared to Earth, and Jason's experience impressed his fellow officers, including Bailey, who, in February 2185, posted him to Investigation. Now, he was in something completely foreign. No longer was he a uniformed officer, but a plainclothes detective involved in homicides, vice and gangs. Here, heroics won't get you anywhere. In Investigation, until you get your man, you have everything to prove.

Jason was awaken by his omni-tool emergency radio at 5:00 am, Citadel Standard Time, robbing him of sleep after nights of heavy paperwork for his entry into Investigation. On the line was his partner, the turian Fellin Jaxton, well-known to be a sarcastic, unfunny detective who very obviously used humor to balance the grim work environment of Investigation officers.

"Sinclair, hope you're hungry for salarian this morning," called Jaxton. "Duct rats found the body over at Kithoi Ward. Officers think it could be Danaria Keris, that cleaner who went missing a few weeks ago."

Jason grabbed a candy bar from his fridge, hoping the sugar rush would shake his exhaustion off.

"Got it," replied Jason, changing and arming himself with his Predator, the same one from Earth. "You on your way here, chauffeur?"

"Already here. Get your human ass in the car now."

Although most officers in Investigation couldn't stand Fellin, Jason, a well-disciplined, no-nonsense officer, strangely got along well with Fellin, forming a bond with him during his orientation and developing a strange work dynamic.

Outside the apartment block, the red Audi R50 awaited him. To keep a low profile, Investigation opted for an external supplier of vehicles for their officers, giving the job to the famous human vehicle corporation, who modified their famous R50 model with bulletproof glass, light armor and a much faster engine.

"Man I haven't eaten anything since dinner. Watching you eat that really turns me on," said Fellin, driving off.

"Turns you on?" asked Jason, reviewing the case notes over the car's computer.

"Yeah isn't that what you humans say when you're hungry?"

Jason was already engrossed in the notes. Duct rats, the homeless children in the Citadel, discovered the body, dragged along the ventilation shaft by a keeper. To their horror, the body was missing a head, which, from the pictures the forensic team sent in, seemed to have melted off from the neck, leaving a strangely deformed stump with bits of liquid skin flowing down and hardening around the neck.

"Painful way to go, dying by face-melting," said Fellin, trying to get Jason's attention.

"Cause of death could have been something else. We'll see when we get there," remarked Jason quietly, still focused on the notes.

"Already here, boss."

C-Sec had set-up a perimeter around the entrance of the ventilation shaft, with the shaft obviously being too small for anyone larger than a child. Despite the time, residents of Kithoi Ward had already gathered around the scene.

Both men entered the perimeter, flashing their badges to the guarding officers.

"How'd you get the body down from the shaft?" asked Fellin as he crouched to examine the body.

"Relax, we didn't get the kids to do it," replied Dr. Emily Hodgkins, one of the forensic officers with Investigation. "Apparently the keeper brought it down for us. Probably knew we needed it."

"More like it didn't like a melted salarian around its workspace. Cause of death?" asked Jason, carefully looking over the body. In person, it was more gruesome. The skin that had melted off and flowed down was more visible, some pieces having traveled to the chest.

"Scans indicate bruising around the wrist, indicative of her being tied up, and around the body. The head melted off because of an acidic compound which I ran against the database. It came from the protein vats over in the recycling chambers."

Jason sighed. "Does that mean you won't get a cause of death without the head, since, you know, everything that goes into those vats melts into 'protein'."

"Please, detective. This is the 22nd century. I don't need a head. I ran a trace on her blood, detecting samples of tungsten. She was shot, and since she doesn't have any bullet wounds on the rest of her body, she was shot before her head was dumped in the vat."

"Wow, must have been one bad cleaner to deserve an execution like that. Wait, but why wouldn't the killer just dump the whole body into the vat?"

Dr. Hodgkins paced around the body, tapping away at her omni-tool, which brought up a schematic for the protein vats.

"Simple. Those vats are used as temporary storage. My guess is, they dumped the body head first, before the vat closed for transportation to the main recycling station. So, they brought the rest of the body to the nearest hiding spot." Dr. Hodgkins pointed at the ventilation shaft. "Here, where only keepers, and unfortunately for them, duct rats, go."

Fellin and Jason glanced at each other, impressed.

"Thanks for doing our job, Doctor," said Fellin, proceeding to call a search for evidence near the protein vats.

"Keep us updated if you find anything. We'll check out this salarian's address once we confirm her identity," said Jason.

Dr. Hodgkins shook her head, "You underestimate the power of technology, detective. I ran her DNA, it's Danaria Keris."

"Oh," whispered Jason, embarrassed. "You should check out the protein vat site once the officers get there."

"I will," smiled the doctor. "You're new, Jason. Take it easy."

"Uh, yeah," remarked Jason sheepishly. It felt weird to make mistakes like that, having always been an excellent officer on Earth.

"So, where to next?" asked Fellin as they walked to the car. "We got an ID on our friend?"

"Yeah, it was the cleaner," replied Jason, confirming her residential address on his omni-tool. He was taken aback at her address, stopping in his tracks. "She lives on the Presidium?"

"Well, things can never be easy with a shot up, melted salarian, can they? Wouldn't be surprised if she's STG."

"Please," said Jason. "With all these conspiracy theories about Shepard coming back from the dead, I wouldn't be surprised if she's the freaking Dalatrass."

The car soon arrived into the Presidium, relatively empty due to the hour, coming to a stop in front of Keris' apartment block, an expensive, guarded condominium near the Presidium embassies.

"C-Sec," said Jason, flashing his badge to the security guard. "You got a Danaria Keris living here?"

The surprised, middle-aged human male opened his security terminal, running through the lists of occupants.

"Block 2, apartment 803, just behind the corner," said the guard, chasing after the two officers, now moving quickly to the apartment. "Wait, I need to follow you guys."

"C-Sec business, best if you stay here old man," laughed Fellin.

"I can't let you disrupt the people living here. Most of them are ambassadors from the embassies, your investigation is going to disturb their business."

"Well," remarked Fellin, stopping to activate his omni-tool. A few moments later, images of the body from the scene came up, the sight of which caused the guard to turn away quickly. "We got a pretty good reason to disturb their filthy, mistress-banging business."

The apartment was one of the few studios in the condominium, with a simple living room cum kitchen cum bedroom and a separate bathroom. There were no signs of struggle, with the apartment looking brand new. As Fellin searched the apartment, Jason approached Keris' computer, placed on a neat desk free of clutter.

Linking up the computer mainframe with his omni-tool, Jason scanned recent documents, emails and other programs accessed on the computer. The emails were useless, having only been personal correspondence to family members, while the program history indicated Keris rarely used her computer. However, Jason soon accessed an obscure application that was locked by a password.

"Strange, none of her apps are locked but this one. Have to get people at Network to open this."

Pulling out a box from underneath the bed, a shocked Fellin turned to Jason, "I think I got something stranger." Opening the box fully, Fellin showed its contents to Jason. Inside the grey lockbox were 2 M-12 Locusts, a rare, and very expensive weapon usually bought my rich warlords and mercenaries. "Run the serial codes by Network as well."

Jason forwarded the information to officers at Network, receiving information on the 2 weapons while they began work on accessing the locked application.

"It's pretty heavily locked down for an app. I've only seen this kind of encryption used by banks," said the officer over the omni-tool. "In fact, its illegal to have this kind of program without a license from C-Sec. Customs would never allow it through."

"Unless you get it directly from a bank," remarked Jason, hitting a possible lead. "Give me a list of all the banks who use this kind of encryption program."

"Already done, Detective. Only one bank uses it, and it's right here in the Presidium."

"Great, we'll check it…" From the corner of his eye, Jason saw a red dot materialize on Fellin's head. "Sniper," thought Jason immediately.

Jason dived towards Fellin, knocking the tall turian down to the floor, just as six shots volleyed into the apartment at the spot where Fellin's head would have been.

"Shit, thanks. It's a fucking Viper, must be a professional," shouted Fellin. Immediately, the door was rattled with more shots, causing the two men to scramble for cover behind the kitchen counter.

"Base, Detectives Sinclair and Jaxton requesting backup at Waterfront condos, Presidium. Shots fired, we need Special Response!"

Fellin drew his Predator, firing through the door, hoping to hit whatever was behind it. Another volley of shots from the sniper came in, but the 2 detectives were now safely away from the sniper's line of sight. Jason broke cover and dove behind the sofa, emptying his clip through the door.

"Fabric ain't good against tungsten, Sinclair!" shouted Fellin as he put a few more rounds downrange.

"Cover me!" screamed Jason. Fellin put a fresh thermal clip into his Predator and fired at the door again. Jason leaped over the sofa and dashed beside the door, breaking it open with his elbow. Peeking over cover momentarily, he spotted both an asari and a batarian, both armed with assault rifles. Jason re-entered cover as both heavily armed assailants fired at him. Fellin rushed to the adjacent wall next to the door and fired at the batarian. The shots were absorbed by his shield, but stunned him enough for him to take cover.

"Shit, shields? Who are these guys?"

The blare of police sirens added to the confusion of the firefight, signaling to the detectives that the cavalry were here. Two blue UT-45 drop shuttle entered the condominium, an older model of the UT-47 used by the System Alliance. One shuttle landed on a field near the apartment, while another remained about six stories above ground. It's door opened up, revealing two turian snipers armed with the reliable M-92 Mantis. The shuttle that landed opened up, revealing seven heavily armed Special Response officers, comprised of turians and asari officers, who poured out into the field.

Seeing the influx of well-armed officers, the batarian broke cover and ran towards the condominium exit, firing at the officers on the ground, who promptly open fired, killing him instantly. The asari unleashed a biotic shockwave towards the officers, knocking all of them off their feet. Jason and Fellin opened fired, destroying her shields, before the snipers both fired at her head, blowing it apart. Within 15 seconds of Special Response's presence, the firefight ended.

"Lieutenant Velik, leave some of your men here, the rest of them can come with us. We've got one more perp to catch," said Fellin to the lead Special Response officer as both detectives rushed to the source of the sniper shot.

The turian lieutenant left three of his men at the site with the sniper team, while the rest of them followed the detectives, who raced to the opposite apartment block.

"Level 6," shouted Jason to the other officers as they raced up the stairs. Arriving at the level, he took cover behind the corner, where just around it, was the sniper a few moments ago. He signaled to Velik, who ordered his men over the corner. The officers turned the corner, sweeping the entire corridor. It was empty. All signs of the sniper's presence were removed, including the rifle and thermal clips.

"Damn it," whispered Jason under his breath. "Who is this cleaner?"

"We'll find out soon enough. You got a lead on the bank?" asked Fellin as they left the corridor to their car.

"Yeah, it's in the Presidium as well." Jason opened his omni-tool radio. "Base, get a forensic team down here, see what they can get from the bodies."

"Roger that," confirmed the operator. "Message from Dr. Hodgkins, detective. Forwarding it now."

A hologram of Dr. Hodgkins played over the omni-tool, "Detectives, I examined the protein vat site. There were traces of Keris' blood, but also turian. Seemed like she put a struggle. I ran the DNA against the database, got back a turian, but turns out its a fake ID. Customs is working on it. Thats it from me, I'll keep you updated."

Entering the car and reviewing the turian ID, Jason set the coordinates for the bank. "Should be our sniper. Customs indicates he came in a few days ago on a shuttle from Palaven with our batarian and asari friends."

"They're obviously hitmen then. But Palaven? There's no gangs on Palaven except the Turian Hierarchy."

Jason opened the full transit log of the shuttle the three assailants were on and frowned, "Shit. They came from Omega."

Fellin whistled, "Then I think we should stop here before Aria T'Loak kills us too. Besides, she's got the backing of the Asari councilor. We can't touch her."

"We're not 'touching' her, only her three hitmen, all of whom failed in their simple mission and two of which are dead. I doubt she has a need for failures like them. We get the turian and we can put him behind bars for life."

Fellin nodded in approval, "But how will going to the bank help us? "

"It's our only lead. Besides, whoever gave Keris that encryption program broke a couple of laws too. Two birds with one stone."

The car's communications channel opened up with an incoming from Network, "Detectives, I opened that application. It was another email app, separate from the one that wasn't locked. I ran through the correspondence. You're never going to believe who this Keris chick is."

"Try us," asked Fellin.

"She's actually a Blue Suns lieutenant. She destroyed one of Aria T'Loak's red sand operations on Omega, so retreated to the Citadel to avoid her retribution. She only came a few weeks ago, and all the money came from offshore Blue Suns accounts."

"Which means the bank official that gave her that encryption program is probably Blue Suns as well." remarked Jason.

"About that program, I couldn't find the source, but the bank manager, Alex Browning, is on C-Sec's list of suspected Blue Suns supporters. If you can trace the program back to him, you can finally get him behind bars."

"Got it, thanks for the help," replied Jason as the car arrived at the bank.

It was now lunch time, and the bank was at its busiest. The detectives approached Browning's office on the second level, away from the main bank, only to be stopped by his secretary, an asari.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Browning is having an important appointment now and can't be disturbed."

Fellin flashed his badge as Jason approached the door unfazed. It was locked, and Jason lacked the patience to decrypt it.

As the secretary tried helplessly to stop him, Jason pulled his gun and fired at the door's computer, opening it immediately. Inside the large office, the tall and well-built Browning stood next to the chair in front of his desk. In his hand was a silenced pistol, while in the chair slumped a dead turian, their prime suspect.

"C-Sec, drop the gun or I will shoot!" shouted Jason as Fellin joined him.

Sighing, Alex dropped his pistol putting his hands up. Fellin approached him and handcuffed him swiftly, "Aria doesn't like her men killed, Mr. Browning, especially by Blue Suns."

As Fellin brought him away, Jason checked Browning's computer, which was already unlocked. However, it seemed that most of the data had already been erased. Jason contacted Network quickly, hoping to salvage whatever was left. As Network officers worked over the channel to salvage the data, Jason left to question his first live suspect.

Back at Investigation headquarters at C-Sec HQ, Browning was brought to one of the interrogation rooms deep in HQ.

"So I killed one of Aria's henchmen who tried to kill me. It was self-defense. You can't get me," said Browning smugly.

"I can also get you for sending that encryption program to Danaria Keris, Mr. Browning. So, you worked together to protect her from Aria?" asked Fellin, pacing around the room.

"I don't know who you're talking about, and I certainly haven't gotten myself involved in such activities. C-Sec has been trying to prove my involvement with the Blue Suns for years. I'm a good citizen, detectives, you can't prove anything."

Jason's omni-tool rang as a Network officer forwarded him new information. Reading it, Jason smiled.

"I"ll admit," said Jason. "A moment ago we couldn't prove anything. But it seems as though Aria found out about your betrayal."

Browning's eyes widened as he lost his confidence, sitting up straight.

Fellin read through the new details, "Stupid, stupid move, Browning. Aria sends you into the Blue Suns to derail their operations, and you think its smarter to turn on Aria for the Blue Suns thinking she would never find out? You know what? Maybe you're right, we can't prove anything. We'll just release you back into your comfortable bank job for Aria to get you eventually."

"No, please," begged Browning. "You can't let her get me. Just… just throw me in jail. Anything but releasing me. She has eyes everywhere, they'll get me if you let me go."

"Then tell us everything," said Jason.

In the next hour, Browning revealed the details of the entire operation. Originally sent by Aria to spy on the Blue Suns, Browning progressed quickly through the ranks, eventually being given the cover job as the bank manager by the Suns. Seeing this new opportunity, Browning revealed to them his original purpose and his offer to spy for them on Aria, which they accepted. He began feeding information to both sides while receiving the credits for both jobs. When Danaria Keris retreated to the Citadel to hide from Aria, Browning supplied Aria's agents with the information needed to capture and kill Danaria.

However, their mistake in handling the body and Danaria's information in her apartment led the Special Response team to kill two of the agents, while the last, the turian approached Browning for help. Knowing it would be easier to kill him for the Suns and blame it on their inexperience to Aria, he did so, just before both detectives arrived. As Network attempted to access his deleted information, they realized whatever he had erased was being sent to an offshore computer, obviously one of Aria's, leading to the sending of important evidence to C-Sec from an anonymous source. Browning could finally be arrested, while Keris' murderers were determined, although killed.

"All in a days work," said Fellin as both officers took a break in the Presidium. "From a murder case to some large conspiracy involving the galaxy's most powerful crime lord. We deserve a medal.

"Too bad the asari councillor stepped in. We can't associate those three hitmen with Aria."

"Yeah, well, what did you expect? You can't get Aria unless you have your own fleet. I doubt she's ever going to leave Omega."

"No one lives forever. One day, someone is going to get her off that rock."

"And one day, we'll cure the genophage! We can all dream, Sinclair," laughed Fellin as both officers' omni-tools rang on the emergency channels.

"The night is young, Fellin. Time to go," said Jason as he left for the car.

"What night?! It's always sunny in Presidium-land!"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 3 - Overload**

**April 1, 2185**

**Presidium, Citadel**

"Take a seat, detectives." Executor Pallin signaled to the two seats in front of him.

"I'll get straight to the point."

The executor brought up the case files of the detectives latest case

"Within a month, you've unraveled a Blue Suns operation in the heart of the Citadel involving Aria T'Loak. Pretty good for your first month, Sinclair.

Jason smiled, "Thank you, sir, but we're just doing our job."

"Yes, but don't take my gratitude as a reason to be complacent. I've called you in here because of this."

The display brought up several pictures of dead humans on the screen. Both detectives recognized the bodies as recent victims of drug overdose all over the wards.

"Recognize them?" asked the Executor sarcastically. "Right now, a huge amount of foreign red sand is getting into my station and its killing my people. I wanted to bring this directly to both of you because I want you to know how serious I am when I say I either want these dealers behind bars, or dead."

Pallin got up from his seat and paced behind the detectives, "Investigation's commander assures me you're two of his best detectives and your track record so far supports it. Find me the dealers, detectives, and I can get you to wherever you want in C-Sec."

Jason nodded, disturbed by the Executor's assumption that he was in this for the glory. Both detectives left the office, with the Executor watching them, "Zero tolerance for drugs on the Citadel, gentlemen, zero tolerance."

**Tayseri Ward**

"According to the reports, the six victims got their sand from different dealers," said Jason, reviewing the notes filed by other officers. Both detectives were headed to the site where the body of the latest victim was found.

"Executor must be getting a lot of shit from the Council if he pulled a stunt like that on us," remarked Fellin.

"What stunt?"

"You know, that human crime drama thing where there's this big unsolvable crime terrorizing the city. The police chief brings in his best officers and gives them this pseudo-pep talk to 'inspire' them, and, at the end of forty minutes, or a few hours, depending on the show you're watching, catch the bad guys."

"Wow, I'm embarrassed. I don't know shit about turian shows."

Fellin smiled, "Don't be. I've been watching a lot of old human cop shows. Besides, turians don't have shows. We get our entertainment from wars and winning them."

The car pulled up to an apartment block south of the Gaeron Botanical Gardens, where the victim was found in an alleyway behind the block. The block was obviously without power, with Tayseri Ward experiencing the most damage during the Battle of the Citadel.

Enforcement officials set-up a perimeter around the alleyway, with the victim's body lying slumped against a large garbage can against the wall. He was a young blonde, couldn't have been older than twenty-five. His eyes were open, with the iris slightly red, evidence of prolonged red sand abuse. Dr. Hodgkins was already there, crouched beside the body.

Jason flashed his badge at the duty officer, an asari who followed the detectives into the crime scene, "Body was reported by one of the apartment's residents a couple of hours ago, before the apartment lost power. Victim's name is Ross Wright, lives in the apartment too. When you're done here I can bring you up to his room, I've got men there already."

"Thanks, Sergeant. This place had power just now?" asked Fellin.

"Yeah. The place has been experiencing rolling blackouts since last Friday. According to reports power is being diverted for repairs to the botanical gardens. This place got hit hard last time."

"Alright, we'll call you when we're ready."

Jason crouched beside Dr. Hodgkins, glancing at the body, "Overdose?"

Dr. Hodgkins nodded, "Two hours ago. Took the sand right here." Dr. Hodgkins pointed at an empty bag a few metres away from the body, lying in a shallow puddle of water.

Fellin pointed his omni-tool flashlight at the bag, "Probably means the deal took place here as well. Hit the vic's apartment?"

Jason nodded, "Sergeant? Can you bring us up?"

The asari officer led them into the main entrance, pitch black due to the blackout, "We don't have to climb much. It's on the second floor."

The apartment was already open, with two officers already inside. The distinct smell of red sand immediately hit the detectives, smelling slightly like ammonia but much more addictive to the weak-willed.

They activated their flashlights, searching through the cluttered, messy apartment. Scattered around the studio apartment were countless empty plastic bags with red sand residue still inside.

"What exactly are we looking for underneath all this shit, detectives?" asked one of the turian officers.

"Anything that tells us where he got the sand from," replied Jason, sifting through the kitchen. The sink was pristine, obviously rarely used. The trash can, however, was full of human instant ramen. "Not the healthiest of drug addicts."

Fellin searched a small desk beside the bed. It was cluttered with stacks of the infamous Fornax magazine, with a few 'asari special editions'. Fellin picked the top issue, browsing through it. Jason snatched the magazine away, "Focus, sicko." Jason pointed at the computer on the table. He activated it, browsing through the victim's email.

"Got anything?" asked Fellin, searching through the living room.

"Not really. Mostly from Fornax about his subscription. Weird that he doesn't just use a digital subscription. No one ever uses a physical one when you just get your smut in a couple of minutes."

Jason browsed through the first email from the Fornax company, "This is weird. He gets the magazine from an external delivery service, not from Fornax itself. Apparently one of the Citadel's courier service took over a few months ago."

"Run the company name by the database, see if you can get anything about this courier," said Fellin.

Jason ran the company name in the database search engine. A relatively new courier company barely a year old, all the details about the company seemed shady, but legitimate nevertheless.

"Looks weird, but it checks out."

Fellin searched the computer further, "Not anymore. Check out his bank records."

Jason looked at the victim's recent payments, discovering something strange. Payments of almost three thousand credits had been made per month to the courier company.

"Fornax costs five credits per issue. Plus delivery charges, maybe ten or fifteen. Three thousand? No way." questioned Fellin.

"Time to pay them a visit then. The company runs out of Zakera Ward. Time to go."

**Zakera Ward**

The courier office was located at the bottom of a small office building north of the C-Sec office. Not knowing what to expect, especially with drug dealers, the detectives received two officers as backup.

"There's a back entrance. Position your car there," radioed Jason to the other car. The detectives parked right in front of the office, knowing that anyone inside wouldn't recognize their car as C-Sec.

The office was relatively small, being roughly as large as the studio apartment they were just at. Against the back wall was the counter, with an asari behind it. One door to her right seemed led to the back room, probably leading to the back entrance where the other two officers were waiting.

Fellin flashed their badge, "C-Sec, where's your boss?"

The asari hesitated for a moment, "He's out now on business, left the Citadel a week ago. Can I help you?"

"You deliver Fornax to a Ross Wright?" asked Jason, bringing up a picture of Ross before death.

The asari looked at the picture, uninterested, "We deliver a lot of things, to a lot of people, detectives. I can't remember everything we deliver."

Fellin paced the office, "You have a ledger?"

The asari nodded, typing on her computer, before both detectives' omni-tool rang, "Detectives, we have an unidentified turian running out of the office!"

Both detectives drew their pistols. "One of you give chase, the other come into the office and get the data we need from the asari. We're on our way."

They ran through the door on the right and exited the back door, running past one of the C-Sec officers going back to collect the data. Immediately outside was the C-Sec police car, while towards the left, the other C-Sec officer was giving chase down the street.

Jason pointed at the car, "Why waste our breath?"

They entered the car, with Jason on the wheel. Starting the car without closing the door, it sped off, sirens blaring. Within a few seconds, they caught up with the turian. The car braked and swerved towards him, just at a street intersection.

"C-Sec, hands in the air!" shouted Fellin, aiming his pistol at the runner.

The turian hesitated, before drawing his pistol. Before he could fire, the human C-Sec officer behind tackled him to the ground, removing the threat.

Fellin exited the car, kicking the gun away. "Bring him back to the station."

Half an hour later, the turian was brought back to the Zakera Ward station, thrown into one of the interrogation rooms.

"Don't think you brought him here for selling Fornax, did you?" asked Commander Bailey, the head of the ward. "And its great to see you again Sinclair."

"Thank you, sir," replied Jason. "We think he might be involved with that drug smuggling ring that has the Executor pissed as hell."

"Well, good luck. My experience with these scum is, that they don't talk easy."

Fellin cracked his knuckles, "We'll see."

The interrogation room was absent of a table, only a slightly reclined chair, with the turian, Zanek, being strapped to the chair.

"Why'd you run, Zanek?" asked Jason, tapping into his omni-tool to bring up case files.

"Where's my lawyer?" asked Zanek, vision fixed on the ground. He was visibly bruised from the tackle, with blue-black marks over his face.

Jason brought up the bank statements of Ross Wright, grabbing Zanek's head with his left hand, forcing him to see the documents.

"Where did those credits go to, Zanek? I doubt he paid three thousand for adult entertaiment."

Zanek smiled, "What can I say? He was desperate. I run a business, gentlemen. I do what I can to earn maximum profits."

"Six other people have paid you the same amount of money at the same regular intervals over the past few months. I doubt they have the same desperation," said Fellin, looking through the documents received from the office.

"You can't prove anything," laughed Zanek. "It's a legitimate business."

Jason's omni-tool rang with new incoming information. Reviewing it, he smiled, "You never expected anyone accessing your private computer, did you?"

Zanek's eyes widened slightly, paying more attention.

"Oh, we got you now, don't we?" asked Fellin. "Your personal ledger documents all your transactions with the drug addicts, and lucky us, you even wrote down what you deliver: sand. So much red sand can put you behind bars for a really, really long time Zanek."

Fellin crouched beside him, "But you're not the boss, are you? If you were, you wouldn't be dealing with the transactions yourself. Tell us who it is."

Zanek sighed, "I used to be. Before all this shit happened. A few months ago there were three of us, including me. We fucking ran the Citadel. Then, all three of us got kidnapped by this guy, brought us to one of the warehouses at Kithoi."

"Who was he?"

"Thats the thing, he wasn't even there personally. We only heard his voice, which went through some sort of scrambler, made it deep and robotic."

"What did he want, control of the Citadel drug trade?"

"He gave us a choice. He wanted us to…"

Both detectives were thrown back suddenly, blinded and deafened by an explosion from the centre of the room, where Zanek sat. Bailey burst in with three officers, sweeping the room.

"You alright, detectives?" asked one of the officers, helping them up.

"He isn't," pointed Fellin. Zanek remained seated at the centre of the room, with his head completely blown open.

"What the fuck just happened?" asked Jason.

"Ocular flash-bang," remarked Bailey, focused on the body.

"Shit, we just lost our best lead," said Fellin.

"Not necessarily," replied Jason, referencing his omni-tool. "C-Sec reports that one of the idiots reported the kidnapping. I got both their names. The one who reported it is in jail, obviously. The other, Investigation has his location. He's on parole, living at Bachjret."

"Detectives, wait," said Bailey, stopping them. "I've seen reports about this kind of things."

"That ocular shit?"

"Yeah," said Bailey, looking disturbed. "Cerberus uses it. Watch yourselves."

Both detectives nodded, surprised by the new information, before leaving for the address of the human suspect.

**Bachjret Ward**

"You think Cerberus could really be involved?" asked Fellin.

The car pulled up at the suspect's apartment, a middle-class apartment block near the shuttle station.

"Don't really care. Relax, they're just terrorists. You scared? I'd expect more from an ex-turian marine."

"I'm not scared, just saying man, I've read some of the reports, you humans are capable of some nasty shit."

The apartment was on the sixth floor of the building, Both detectives took the elevator up, with the apartment being immediately to the left of the lift. The door was slightly open, with the electric lock shot open. They drew their pistols, Fellin taking the lead.

He nudged the door open, moving in slowly. The living room was small, with the television facing the door, still on, showing the news. The kitchen was also empty, so both detectives took cover next to the only door in the room, wide open.

Peeking around the corner, they saw a short corridor with two doors on both sides. One door was closed, the other, open again. Fellin signaled at the open door, indicating they would investigate it first.

They took cover beside the door. Fellin glanced at Jason, who nodded. Both turned the corner, pistols ready to fire. They were looking at the toilet, a small, chrome-colored room. Facing them was someone's back, a human, with a pistol in his hand. He was using his omni-tool, scanning through documents. In front of him, a figure, slumped on the toilet bowl, with crimson, unmistakably human blood flowing down.

"Drop the gun, C-Sec!" screamed both detectives.

Without hesitation, the man aimed his gun at Jason. The detectives swiftly opened fire, killing the man immediately. He collapsed on the floor, revealing the other man slumped on the toilet bowl, their suspect.

"Shit, check the man," said Fellin, going onto his omni-tool communications. "Base, I need extra protection on high-value witness, prisoner 4DE1, headquarters prison."

Jason investigated the assailant carefully, afraid his head would explode as well. The man was dressed in casual attire. Besides his pistol and extra ammunition, he wasn't carrying anything else. His omni-tool, when checked, immediately self-destructed.

"You think Network can recover anything from this?" asked Jason.

Fellin glanced at the omni-tool, "Doubt so. Looks damaged beyond recovery. Alright, I got men protecting our last guy. We better head over to headquarters before someone tries to kill him as well."

**C-Sec Headquarters**

Back at C-Sec HQ, the detectives rushed to the interrogation room where the only surviving dealer was held. On their way, they were stopped by Dr. Hodgkins.

"Detectives, I found something strange about the red sand," said Dr. Hodgkins, rushing after the detectives.

"Talk fast, doctor, we're on a pretty tight schedule," replied Fellin as all three entered the lift.

"I checked out the red sand particles from the vic's body. It's not like the normal one. It's modified to be even more addictive with nicotine. But the strangest part is that there's some sort of nanite embedded within the red sand packets."

"Nanite? Like a tiny machine?" asked Jason.

"Yeah. It attacks the brain cells, modifies them. The mental damage is congruent with Alliance documents on Cerberus experiments on their subjects."

"Shit, so now we know they're really involved."

"I brought the nanite over to Network. It turns out it also scans the addict's vital signs and sends it to a foreign computer through a small quantum entanglement communicator. It's extremely advanced."

Fellin hit a hunch, "Can't we trace the signal?" The elevator reached the interrogation room level as all three entered the observation room, with a one-way mirror.

The dealer was a human, dressed in C-Sec prison attire, a red jumpsuit. Inside, a Network officer was disabling the ocular flash-bang in his head.

"Unfortunately Cerberus is smarter than that. The nanite self-destructs after death so it's impossible to trace the signal."

"You think that nanite is inserted with every bag of red sand?" asked Jason.

"It should be, an experiment this size, Cerberus needs a large pool of test subjects."

Jason pointed at the dealer, whose iris was tinted red and teeth were stained the same color as well.

"I'll call the Network officers down here," said Dr. Hodgkins.

Soon, more Network officers arrived, scanning the nanites in the dealer, who continued Zanek's story for the detectives.

"So the guy offers us a choice, either we take his red sand from his dealers and sell them, with seventy percent of profits going to him, or he kills us."

"Where'd you get the shipments from?"

"Every month a shuttle comes into a different dock, at different times for the three of us, and gives us the shipments. We'd get the instructions for the next drop when we get our shipment. The guy we'd get it from changed every time."

One of the Network officers came into the room, "We got it, detectives."

They exited the room, with the head Network officer addressing them, "We traced the signal back to a ship, currently in the Sol system. Council buoys in the system indicate that the ship makes jumps to the Widow system monthly."

Fellin smiled, "We got them. Does it dock in the Citadel?"

The officer shook his head, "No, no records of it ever docking."

Jason paced the room, "So the ship comes to the system monthly and let's the shuttle do the delivery, before it jumps back to wherever the hell it came from."

"Crap, but since all their dealers are down, Cerberus has no reason to come back here."

The door to the observation room slid open, with Executor Pallin and a human male walking in.

"Everybody except the detectives, out of the room, now," ordered Pallin.

The Network officers promptly left the room with their equipment, bringing the dealer with them, back to his cell.

"Councillor," acknowledged Jason. The man with Pallin was Councillor David Anderson, the human representative to the once all-alien Citadel Council. "What's going on sir?"

"I understand you've discovered the source of our drug problems?" asked Pallin. "Cerberus?"

Jason nodded, "But its impossible to catch them. Their ship is in Sol.". He glanced at Anderson.

"Councillor Anderson is here because…"

Anderson interrupted, "What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room." Both detectives nodded.

"There's an… Alliance soldier, currently infiltrating Cerberus. I've been following your case and I think I can help you out."

"You can bring the ship to the Citadel?"

Anderson nodded, "My agent is extremely influential in Cerberus, even coming into contact with the Illusive Man. One call and I can get that ship back to the Widow system."

Fellin was impressed, "Must be one hell of an agent to be able to get in that deep into Cerberus."

"Really, it was Cerberus who let him in," shrugged Anderson.

"If the Councillor can get that ship back, and you're sure they're the main dealers, I can mobilize Special Response and Patrol," said Pallin.

Jason and Fellin exchanged glances, nodding, "Do it, sir."

"I'll make the call."

**Aroch Ward, C-Sec Docks**

"Feel ready?" asked Fellin, putting on his body armor.

"Don't really know what to expect, really. Cerberus is fucked up," replied Jason, arming himself.

"Whatever the hell is on that ship, I got your back, Sinclair," Fellin extended his fist.

Jason smiled and knocked his fist into Fellin's, "You really do watch a lot of human television."

"Like I said, there's no turian television except the news. Even then, its all wars, victories in wars and mobilizations for wars. We're not the most interesting race in the galaxy."

The droning sound of the docks' alarms rang out, signaling the operation was a go. "All units, move out!" ordered Commander Kane over the communications channel.

Commander Kane, the asari head of Special Response, was in charge of the operation, one of C-Sec's largest ever. Six Patrol ships, four Special Response squads and fifty officers were involved in the arrest, which involved two phases.

As per Anderson's promise, the ship was to return to Citadel space. The six Patrol ships would surround the ship, a medium sized human transport frigate, as soon as it entered the Citadel's orbit.

The Special Response squads, along with twenty four Enforcement and Investigation officers and detectives, including Fellin and Jason, would board the ship, arresting and if necessary, eliminating hostile targets.

Fellin and Jason were put in the the same UT-45 shuttle as one of the Special Response squads, led by the human Lietutenant Crossly.

"Hope you detectives got it right this time. Two assholes from Investigation wasted our time last month thinking a warehouse at Zakera would have had the same man you're looking for. Turned out empty as fuck."

Fellin pulled up the image of Zanek, dead in his chair, "We're pretty sure."

The dark confines of the shuttle soon lit up as the 'ready' lights on the ship turned green. The shuttle's intercom activated, "Patrol has got the ship surrounded. All shuttles are moving in."

The officers on board readied themselves, checking equipment and some, saying prayers. Suddenly, the shuttle swerved sharply to the right, surprising them. The intercom activated again, "Ship has opened fire, repeat, ship has opened fire! Shuttle 2 has been destroyed."

"How'd a transport frigate get guns?" shouted Fellin.

The shuttle sped up, obviously to avoid fire and quickly enter the ship's landing bay, which had been forced open by Network officers' hacking.

The intercom blared alive again, "We're in, get ready, hostiles in the landing bay!"

The officers got up from their seats, lining up at the door. The port and starboard door opened, with the port side facing enemy fire. The landing bay was a small one, but large enough for the remaining shuttles to land in. Scattered around were crates, presumably holding the red sand.

The side of the landing bay closest to the engine had a balcony two stories above the ground, where Cerberus forces, all clad in civilian attire, were firing from. On the ground floor was a short staircase leading up to a platform where there was both an elevator leading to the second floor, and a large door leading into the back.

All Cerberus fire was coming from that side of the landing bay, with only a single door on the opposite side leading to the front of the ship.

Officers exiting from the port side of the shuttle managed to avoid Cerberus fire, returning accurate shots to Cerberus troops on the second level, killing most of them quickly.

The officers who exited from the starboard side moved quickly to the large door on the platform as Cerberus forces on the first level retreated.

Jason fired at one of the retreating soldiers, knocking him off his feet. As officers poured into the platform, Jason approached the soldier to subdue him with omni-restraints. Before he could do so, the soldier bit down on something, before foaming at the mouth, dying.

Fellin shook his head, "Cyanide. Dedicated bastards. I doubt we'll be making any arrests this time."

Jason put a fresh clip in his Avenger, "Good. Let's head to the bridge. I'll bet there's where their head honcho is."

While the Special Response squad handle the back of the ship, the detectives headed towards the bridge with the two remaining squads and twelve other officers.

Entering the single door, the lead officers were cut down by Cerberus fire, setting up a killzone at the door.

"Flash-bang!" shouted one of the Special Response officers.

One officer tossed a flash-bang inside, disorientating the three Cerberus soldiers taking cover behind an overturned table dragged from the adjacent room to the corridor they were in. They opened fire, piercing the table and killing the three men instantly.

Along the corridor were three rooms while at the end, a lift and staircase. The rooms in the corridor were empty, so all officers gathered at the end. The lift led to both the bridge two floors above and crew deck one floor above.

"They'll be waiting for us on both floors at the lift," said one officer.

"We'll have to clear the crew deck first. A few of you, get on top of the lift through the shaft," pointed out Jason. "Once the door opens, they'll open fire. Those of you on top of the lift, drop flash-bangs in. Once they're blinded, we'll take them out from the stairs."

Three officers entered the lift and climbed into the shaft, while the rest stacked up along the staircase leading to the crew deck. Fellin punched in the elevator destination before joining the officers on the stairs.

As expected, Cerberus troops opened fire as soon as the lift door open. The three officers in the shaft dropped flash-bangs in, blinding the few troops waiting in front of the elevator.

Officers moved in, quickly taking out the six men and women around the main hall of the crew deck. They had overturned the dining table to be used as cover. To the right of the main hall was the medical centre, whose door immediately opened, revealing two more Cerberus operatives. To the left of the hall, one soldier turned from the corner.

The three officers in the shaft dropped down, one of them taking out the soldier to the left. The two troops in the medical centre opened fire, but their shots were aimless. Fellin fired precise shots to both their heads, killing them instantly.

Jason signaled to the staircase, indicating there was one more level to be cleared, the bridge, where they expected the Cerberus head of this operation would be.

The detectives' omni-tool communications opened up, "Detectives, the SR team at the back of the ship accessed the ship's computer mainframe. We can access the bridge's camera."

"How many?" asked Jason.

"Uh, one. A woman. She's on the captain's seat, just… sitting."

"Something's wrong," said Fellin. "She's got one more card to play."

"Commander," Jason said to one of the SR team leaders. "Bring all your men back to the shuttles and prep for evac. Myself and detective Fellin will handle the bridge."

"You sure?" asked the Commander. "I can leave a few of my men with you."

"I'm sure. If anything happens, I want to avoid casualties."

Fellin smiled, "Nobody's going to miss a human and turian. There're lots of this kind of combination around the galaxy."

The commander nodded, leading his men back to the shuttles, while the detectives proceeded up the staircase. Reloading their weapons, they turned the corner, only to see what the Network officer had confirmed.

The bridge was a relatively small one, with four 'walls' of consoles forming a square, with a small platform leading up to the centre of this square, holding the captain's seat. The captain, a tall brunette female, was facing the detectives, completely unarmed. She was dressed in black leather pants and a black Cerberus jacket, the only person so far on the ship to wear Cerberus attire.

"C-Sec, hands in the air," shouted Jason.

The captain smiled, "Tell me, before we die officers, how you sent my ship such a believable message to get us back here?"

"Your organization isn't as secure as you think it is. We have a man inside," replied Fellin. "Hands, now."

"This is my final gift to you. Find the mole," said the woman.

Her communications console was connected, "Noted. Thank you for your service."

Jason became impatient, and approached the woman. She drew her gun and aimed at him, prompting both detectives to fire at her, killing her instantly.

"Fuck!" shouted Jason, emptying his clip into the woman.

"Come on," said Fellin. "We're done here. Network's already salvaging the data from the ship. Let's head back to the shuttles."

Before the detectives descended the staircase, their omni-tool rang again, "Detectives. Bad news, the ship's engines are rigged to self-detonate."

"Shit, thats what she meant by us dying. We're headed to the shuttles now!"

"No, it's too late!"

The ship was rocked by three separate explosions on the other side of the ship, throwing both men down the stairs.

"You have no time! Get to the escape pods, there's one on every level!"

Fellin got up first, helping Jason. From the bottom of the stairs, Jason spotted an escape pod in the medical centre. Rushing past the dead Cerberus operatives, they punched open the access of the pod, quickly entering in before launching off, just in time to watch the ship explode.

"Spirits, that was one crazy bitch," remarked Fellin, catching his breath.

"I think that was the Illusive Man. The guy she was talking to," said Jason.

"Screw that, we narrowly avoided being caught in a Cerberus fireball! I'm taking a break from all this crap."

Jason smiled, lying back, "Well, this is the part in the cop drama where we get our man and our reward."

"Well, the reward is usually an attractive human female, which I have no interest in. Now, if it were an asari..."

"Please, the closest you'll ever get to an asari is Fornax."

Fellin tapped on his omni-tool, bringing up the latest issue of Fornax through his subscription channel, "Thanks for the suggestion, now you might want to turn away for awhile."


End file.
